00:00Aspect of it and we can see how intense it was for everyone on the bench, on the pitch,
00:04in the stands at the weekend. Do you sometimes have to bring that down a bit or is it now
00:08at the point of the season where you want everyone full intense, 100% all the time,
00:13let's go?
00:14Well, I think you have to navigate through that. I think when you have an emotion like
00:18this, the next day you have to bring it a little bit down. Use it because it's still
00:23there and the atmosphere will still remain there. Tomorrow at the Emirates, the first
00:27thing that you do when you come in there, those moments are going to come and we have
00:31to use it in a powerful way. All of us, our supporters, to start to generate that energy,
00:36that belief and do what we have to do to go through to the quarterfinals.
00:40Could you please give us some examples of how you do manage that to the group and how
00:45you do bring it down?
00:46In terms of?
00:47The emotions, the stress, the players, the way that they're thinking and feeling.
00:51In a very different way. I think doing different activities, the manner that you talk to them.
00:56Just your tone can activate certain things in them. My presence or not my presence. The
01:03conversations that they have between them, I think, in my opinion, are the most powerful
01:06ones and this group has evolved a lot with our recent history to manage those situations
01:13better.
01:14What kind of activities?
01:15You're going to insist. At the end of the season, we can tell you a few.
01:22Hello, Mikel. You've actually reserved some of your best performances this season for Europe,
01:27haven't you? I mean, fantastic performances against Bayern and Madrid. Do you need to kind
01:32of summon that energy again for tomorrow night? How big of an occasion is it in European terms
01:38do you feel tomorrow?
01:39Yeah, when you come to that stage in the competition, you really have to elevate your game to a different
01:44level, collective and individually, for sure, in the competition. Tomorrow is one of those
01:49nights where we're going to need the best from all of us in a really consistent way throughout
01:54the game to be through.
01:56I'm just thinking a bit about the energy at the end of that game. I mean, you can embrace
02:01that, take that forward. That might be a game-changing moment for the rest of the season starting tomorrow.
02:06That's what we want. When you have that momentum, maintain it and improve it. The fact that you
02:12go from competition to competition, you have to use it. We know what is at stake. We know
02:17how much we want it and we're going to show that tomorrow.
02:21Simon, the other side?
02:22Yeah, Mikel, just on that, is that one where that sort of the emotion in the second half,
02:26even before you scored, it felt like the atmosphere, the fans were trying to lift the team, where
02:29you just want to bottle that and for this run-in now, you say to the fans, look, that 45
02:34minutes,
02:34the atmosphere you brought then every time you come through, this is what you need to bring.
02:37Yes, probably, because leaving it is the best way to understand and to recognise how powerful it is.
02:44When you're in that stadium with that atmosphere, you just have the sense that it's going to happen.
02:48And we have plenty of examples throughout the last few years that when we created at the Emirates,
02:55we make it very centre for us and very, very difficult for the opponent.
02:58I can just ask you as well with Max. I know you said with young players in the past that
03:01you want
03:01to cook them slowly. How hard is it to do that with Max?
03:08Depends, I think. I think they have to cook at the optimal speed in relation to what they need
03:14and what they demand. He's knocking the door at 16, saying, I'm good enough and I can impact this
03:22team whenever it's needed and he's doing it when he's playing.
03:25What do you make of people when they talk about England, the World Cup?
03:30I don't know. I haven't heard that, but let's go game by game, please.
03:35Just on Max and the way he's reacted to his first goal, we are not surprised with how cool he
03:42looks.
03:43He just sort of expected that moment to come.
03:47Well, I didn't expect that kind of goal, that's for sure. But his attitude and his decision-making,
03:54yes. If not, I wouldn't make a decision to play him. But then to be that precise and deliver the
04:00moment that he delivered, that's obviously something difficult to imagine.
04:04And the way that his teammates reacted to it, do you think some of his youthful enthusiasm can
04:11rub off on them? You know, they've had a long, hard season and now he's coming in fresh.
04:15That's a good point. I think it's very inspiring when you see someone almost naïve, you know,
04:19making decisions and flowing and careless playing in that manner, in that context, is great.
04:27And I think probably our play is realised as well. It's a good example, you know,
04:32playing with that flow and enthusiasm is actually very beneficial for the team.
04:37OK, last couple, first at this and then go on.
04:39Hi, Mikel. Hi.
04:40On the touchline, jacket off, eyes bulging, you seemed very much...
04:46You seemed very animated. You obviously do get animated at times, but on Saturday,
04:50you seemed to a different level. What was it about that moment in particular,
04:53that just kind of grouped you so much? I don't know. I felt it. I felt that the team
04:58needed something else. I was desperate to do anything that it could take to win the game
05:04and to help the boys to deliver that moment. And I wanted to be there present, supporting them,
05:10playing every ball with them, make them feel that I'm there, that we are all there,
05:15because it's not me, it's all the staff, and hopefully another 60,000 people with them,
05:18and put all the passion and energy that we can to do our best to win.
05:23Just one on Max. In terms of his performance, a lot has been made of him for a while here,
05:28in terms of the hype and how good he is. In terms of protection, he's obviously had an Adidas advert
05:33with Ian Wright in recent weeks. He's obviously very much in the spotlight now. How do you kind of
05:38protect him? Because he's only a kid at the end of the day.
05:40I need your help with that, guys. Because if we say that and I have 15 questions on Max,
05:45it doesn't really help. So we just bring the temperature down and understand what is the best
05:51thing for this boy at his age. He's doing something phenomenal. We all know that. Let's keep it down
05:56a little bit and respect his nature to do what he has to do, which I'm sure is going to
06:01be something
06:02really good. It's because he's so exciting for the whole of England, isn't he? The whole of football.
06:18It's just amazing to have this player. Are you happy to share this excitement with
06:23the whole country? There will be a time when he's going to get picked for England, isn't he?
06:28I mean, my way to express it is to give in game time, no? What else can I do? The
06:33rest is on you guys.
06:34Yeah, but it is so exciting for the... Yes, very exciting. Yeah. Enough. Let's go.
06:41Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you guys. Cheers. Thank you.
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